NHL Capsules

Pittsburgh Penguins' Brooks Orpik (44) and Philadelphia Flyers' Steve Downie (9) collide along the boards during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Sunday, March 16, 2014, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

2014-03-16 19:35:00

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Wayne Simmonds had two power-play goals in the first period and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second consecutive day, 4-3 on Sunday.

Simmonds assisted on Brayden Schenn's goal 2:06 into the game and then scored twice in a 6:54 span to give the Flyers a three-goal lead 14 minutes in. Surging Philadelphia, which beat its cross-state rival 4-0 at home Saturday, improved to 5-1-1 in its past seven.

Defencemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen and recent call-up Jayson Megna scored for the injury-depleted Penguins, who lost two straight in regulation for the first time since dropping three in a row from Nov. 6-13.

During the final seconds, the Penguins' Sidney Crosby hit the post with a backhand off a pass from Evgeni Malkin while skating down the right wing.

SHARKS 1, RANGERS 0

NEW YORK (AP)—Antti Niemi stopped 41 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and made Logan Couture's first-period, short-handed goal stand up as the San Jose Sharks beat the New York Rangers for their sixth straight win.

Niemi and the Sharks' defence were the difference in this one, unlike in the first meeting between the teams, won 9-2 by San Jose on Oct. 8. Niemi, who has 27 NHL shutouts, was particularly strong during a Rangers power play early in the third.

The Rangers thought they tied it with 3:15 left in the second period. During a stoppage, all four officials gathered in front of the scorer's table. A lengthy video review was conducted in Toronto to see if Carl Hagelin's stuff attempt at the left post had nudged the puck over the line. While numerous replays failed to show the puck behind Niemi, who blocked the view, one zoomed-in and enhanced picture appeared to show the puck disappear behind the post—drawing a huge cheer from the crowd. Those yells turned to boos when it was announced there was no conclusive evidence of a goal.

CANUCKS 4, PANTHERS 3, SO

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP)—Nicklas Jensen scored in the first period and added the only goal in the shootout and the Vancouver Canucks earned a victory over former goalie Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers.

Alex Burrows had a goal and two assists and Dan Hamhuis also scored for the Canucks. Eddie Lack made 26 saves.

Luongo faced his former team just 12 days being traded from the Canucks to the Panthers on March 4. Luongo is 2-3 since joining the Panthers. Lack stopped all three shots in the shootout and won against Luongo, his former teammate.

CAPITALS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 2

WASHINGTON (AP)—Troy Brouwer scored two goals and the Washington Capitals scored three times in the first period before holding on against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Joel Ward had a goal and an assist, and Jason Chimera also tallied for Washington, which scored on three of its first five shots against James Reimer for a 3-0 lead.

The Maple Leafs pulled within 3-2 in the second period and it stayed that way until Brouwer's empty-netter with four seconds left.

Dion Phaneuf had a goal and an assist for Toronto and Troy Bodie also scored. The Capitals won their second straight. They begin a three-game West Coast swing Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif.

OILERS 2, HURRICANES 1

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)—Justin Schultz scored a power-play goal at 9:01 of the third period and the Edmonton Oilers earned a win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

David Perron and Taylor Hall had the assists for Schultz's ninth goal of the season.

Matt Hendricks opened the scoring at 6:43 of the first to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. Boyd Gordon and Schultz had the assists on Hendricks' fifth goal of the season.

Edmonton's Ben Scrivens made 29 saves for the win, while Anton Khudobin made 31 saves for the Hurricanes.

AVALANCHE 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario—Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves and Andre Benoit, Nick Holden and John Mitchell scored for the Colorado Avalanche in a win over the Ottawa Senators.

Varlamov was 6 seconds away from his second shutout of the season and 13th of his career until Mika Zibanejad scored for the Senators.

Matt Duchene had two assists for the Avalanche, who have won three of four and seven of their last nine.

Robin Lehner made his second straight start for the Senators since Craig Anderson was injured last week in a loss to the Nashville Predators. Lehner made 19 saves.

CANADIENS 2, SABRES 0

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP)—Rookie Dustin Tokarski stopped 29 shots to earn his first NHL shutout in the Montreal Canadiens' win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Brendan Gallagher and Dale Weise scored for the Canadiens (37-25-7), who vaulted into second place in the Atlantic Division by jumping ahead of Toronto and Tampa Bay. Tokarski improved 2-0 this season and 3-3-1 for his career after being called up from AHL Hamilton earlier in the day.

Tokarski was filling in for starter Carey Price, who didn't make the trip a day after stopping 30 shots in a 5-4 overtime win against the Senators in his first NHL start since Feb. 8. Coach Michel Therrien was wary of playing Price on consecutive nights after the goalie aggravated a lower-body injury during Canada's gold-medal run at the Sochi Games.

BLACKHAWKS 4, RED WINGS 1

CHICAGO (AP)—Marian Hossa celebrated his return to the lineup with a goal and two assists, and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Detroit Wings to snap a two-game losing streak.

Ben Smith had a goal and assist, and Nick Leddy and Jonathan Toews scored for defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago, which is struggling to keep up with the top contenders in the Western Conference. Despite the win, the Blackhawks are 11-8-7 in 2014 and remained fifth in the conference and third in the Central Division.

Hossa was knocked out with an upper-body injury in the Blackhawks' 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh at Soldier Field on March 1.

Gustav Nyquist scored for the injury-depleted Red Wings, who are desperate for wins as they try to get into the playoffs for the 23rd straight time.

JETS 7, STARS 2

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP)—Dustin Byfuglien had two goals and an assist and Blake Wheeler added four assists as the Winnipeg Jets cruised past the Dallas Stars.

The win pulled the Jets to within four points of the Stars for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, although Dallas has two games in hand.

Jacob Trouba, Michael Frolik, Evander Kane, Ollie Jokinen and Tobias Enstrom also scored for the Jets, who snapped a six-game winless streak that hurt their playoff chances. Jokinen and Enstrom each added two assists in the team's highest-scoring game this season.